By Father Nick Adam In mid-November I was able to visit the two seminaries in South Louisiana that we currently have seminarians attending and visit with all of our men. I was in the area because I was asked to give a ‘formation conference’ at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. Formation Conferences are weekly seminars provided for the seminarians that focus on various aspects of their ‘formation.’
Formation is a huge buzz word in the seminary world. Instead of seeing seminary training as a simple ‘education’ in theological facts that future priests can take into ministry, the church considers seminary training as a ‘formation’ of the man’s heart to know and love Jesus and to share that knowledge and love with others in an effective manner.
With that definition in mind, the church provides four ‘dimensions’ of formation that men studying for the priesthood focus on. I’ve talked about these dimensions before, but as a reminder they are human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. All four of these dimensions are highlighted in these formation conferences with topics covering different aspects of priestly formation. My topic was on accompaniment of men considering the seminary and promoting vocations. I gave my presentation to the guys who are about to be ordained deacons. That’s the class the includes our own Will Foggo. Please remember that you are invited to Will’s ordination to the diaconate on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.
I told the men that as they begin their life as ordained ministers that they are going to be highly sought after by young people who are discerning their vocations.
When I was a deacon I remember many young people seeking me out to visit and to explore their own call from the Lord. I was grateful for the reminder that Grayson Foley gave us at Homegrown Harvest about my first interaction with him. He told the story of how when he was a high school basketball player at St. Joe Madison he was invited by ‘Deacon Nick’ to come play basketball at the parish gym. It was the first time he realized that priests and religious were ‘real people,’ and he was able to recognize that he needed to be open to whatever the Lord asked of him as well.
NEW ORLEANS – On Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Bishop J. Gregory Kelly of Tyler instituted seminarians into the ministry of acolyte, the final ministry before ordination to the diaconate. During the rite, the bishop hands each seminarian a paten with bread and says, “Take this vessel with bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his church.” Pictured: From left, EJ Martin; Very Rev. Joshua Rodrigue, rector and president; Bishop Kelly; and Grayson Foley. (Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Seminary)
I also shared with the men some of the successes that we’ve had in our vocation program here in the diocese, and I highlighted the effectiveness of our bi-annual discernment groups which are held across the diocese. My discernment group just wrapped up for the fall, and the guys had a great time. They capped their experience with a fun afternoon at Top Golf and watched Mississippi State come back and beat Arkansas at Buffalo Wild Wings after that. We pray that men from these groups will be called forth to discern the priesthood in the seminary, and that many would be the future priests of our diocese.
By Joanna Puddister King MADISON – Parish leaders from across the Diocese of Jackson gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Saturday, Nov. 15, for the annual Fall Faith Formation Day, a one-day workshop hosted each November by the Department of Faith Formation. This year’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope: Journeying Together,” invited catechists, youth ministers, DREs and parish volunteers to reflect on their call to accompany the people of God with renewed purpose.
The keynote presenter was Robert Feduccia, a nationally recognized speaker who grew up in Brookhaven and attributes his own call to ministry to formative experiences in the Diocese of Jackson. He opened the day with lively “would you rather” questions that had participants laughing, moving and interacting with one another before leading them into deeper conversations about the heart of ministry.
Feduccia encouraged parish leaders to see themselves not as program directors who simply manage logistics, but as ministry leaders rooted in the church’s tradition and attentive to the lived reality of their parish communities. He noted that Mississippi’s Catholic population, though small and diverse, is uniquely positioned for authentic accompaniment and relationship-based ministry. He urged participants to present the faith as truly good news, helping people encounter Christ rather than focusing solely on intellectual debates or apologetics.
MADISON – Robert Feduccia engages participants during his keynote presentation at Fall Faith Formation Day on Nov. 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. Leaders from parishes across the diocese gathered for a day of workshops, prayer and formation. (Photo by Joanna Puddister King)
Sister Amelia Breton provided live translation during the keynote, allowing Spanish-speaking participants to engage fully. For the first time, the event also offered breakout sessions presented entirely in Spanish.
Throughout the day, attendees chose from a range of practical workshops addressing real needs in parish life. Presenters included Sister Amelia Breton, who spoke on accompaniment of migrant communities; Rebecca Harris, who discussed parish fundraising and stewardship; Emily Moran, who explored the confirmation journey with young people; Ruth Powers, who addressed reclaiming community life within parishes; Amelia Rizor, who focused on small-group ministry; and Debbie Tubertini, who offered insights on marriage enrichment. Spanish-language sessions were led by Danna Johnson and Raquel Thompson, who both presented on developing community involvement and small groups within parish settings.
In the closing session, Fran Lavelle, director of Faith Formation, introduced the work of the Bishop William R. Houck Center for Lay Formation. She emphasized that one of the most important lessons learned through the diocesan synod and pastoral reimagining process is the need to respond when the faithful are asked to share their needs and hopes. She said the Center represents a concrete response to that input and thanked those who helped develop its formation path.
MADISON – Robert Feduccia speaks to faith formators from across the diocese for Faith Formation Day on Saturday, Nov. 15. (Photo by Joanna King)
The Bishop Houck Center for Lay Formation is designed to help lay leaders grow in faith, knowledge and service through programs grounded in education, evangelization and leadership development. The initiative builds on Bishop Houck’s legacy of supporting lay ministry and evangelization and offers formation opportunities in both English and Spanish for parish teams and individual leaders across the diocese.
The event closed with a final keynote from Feduccia, sending participants back to their parishes encouraged, energized and reminded that God works powerfully through the faithful who say yes to serving his church.
(OSV News) – We radiate the life of Jesus to the world to the extent that we live with the conviction that we are divinely loved. Advent calls us beyond the false security of the merely virtuous person and into the daring surrender to God’s love of the saint.
But our feelings and the circumstances of our lives and the world around us so often make it difficult for us to be rooted and grounded in the love of God. Thankfully, what the Advent season calls us to, it also makes possible. These weeks are fertile ground for cultivating trust in the truth that no matter how things may seem to us, we are intimately and tenderly loved by God. And in living this conviction, we may ever more radiantly learn to bear Christ to others.
As we contemplate Advent themes in this spirit, we welcome into our company four radiant women, all doctors of the church, who put all their hope in God’s love: Thérèse of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena.
– Thérèse of Lisieux on consistency
It is natural for us to live by the changing weather patterns of our emotions. One day, we are anxious about finances or deadlines or the results of health tests, so we withdraw into a cocoon or snap at those around us. The next day, we are feeling in control of life and rather successful at being human, so we beam joviality and peace upon the world.
Advent stirs us from the slumber of following our feelings and urges us to “stay awake” to what faith demands of us (Mk 13:33-37).
As important and compelling as our emotions are, faith calls us not to be absorbed in them or to identify with them. Rather, we are to dive beneath their variability and deliberately to live ever alert to the truth that God’s love is holding us in being, moment by moment. Our fears or moods may remain, but as we consistently choose to live by faith, to live awake to the reality that we are unstintingly and passionately loved, we will be for others the living presence of God.
A particular genius of St. Thérèse of Lisieux was to live in constant trusting vigilance to God’s love for her and thus to be an unwavering beacon of divine goodness. The sweetness of Thérèse’s writing style perhaps makes it easy to miss her tenacious refusal to conform herself to the contours of her changing emotions. However, this consistent decision to be attentive and receptive to the flood of God’s love is unmistakable in Thérèse’s response to the trial of faith that blanketed the last 18 months of her life.
After first describing to her prioress her experience of a relentless “night of nothingness” in which “everything has disappeared,” Thérèse goes on to articulate her stance of steadfast trust. She writes: “My dear Mother, I may perhaps appear to you to be exaggerating my trial. In fact, if you are judging according to the sentiments I express in my little poems composed this year, I must appear to you as a soul filled with consolations and one for whom the veil of faith is almost torn aside; and yet it is no longer a veil for me, it is a wall which reaches right up to the heavens and covers the starry firmament. When I sing of the happiness of heaven and of the eternal possession of God, I feel no joy in this, for I sing simply what I want to believe.”
For at least one day this week, try to live in the spirit of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, acting not according to your changing feelings, but rather according to what you want to believe.
– St. Hildegard of Bingen on transformation
How can we possibly live as Advent stirs us to live? The messiness and anxieties of our everyday lives frequently exert an all-consuming claim over us. Within the grip of life’s contingency, not to mention its banality, how can we live in the security of being divinely loved and so be for others the presence of the living God? Is it simply a matter of dogged spiritual will-power?
John the Baptist promises that Jesus “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:1-8). The Holy Spirit enables us to enter into and live by the life of Jesus. This means that every decision we make to live in the truth that we are loved by God, while certainly our own decision, is mysteriously enabled; it is a sharing in Jesus’ trusting “yes” to live as the beloved Son of God.
At every moment, no matter our internal or external circumstances, the Holy Spirit is holding us in the flow of Trinitarian love; we simply have to choose to participate.
The writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen crackle with a living awareness of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. For Hildegard, the Holy Spirit is the source of “viriditas,” or greenness — that vitality, freshness, dynamism which makes all life, both physical and spiritual, alive.
We glimpse Hildegard’s perception of what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit in the closing lines of a letter she wrote to a friend: “May He anoint you with the viridity of the Holy Spirit, and may He work good and holy works in you through that devotion with which true worshipers worship God.” The strength to live confidently as loved sons and daughters of God is not something we muster from our own interior resources. It is what, with our cooperation, the Holy Spirit causes to spring up within us.
We again hear Hildegard portraying the Holy Spirit’s power to make the divine life take root within us in her “Antiphon to the Holy Spirit.” Ringing out across the centuries and greening our Advent journey with healing and hope, she sings:
“The Spirit of God / is a life that bestows life, / root of world-tree / and the wind in its boughs. / Scrubbing out sin, / she rubs oil into wounds. / She is glistening life / alluring all praise, / all-awakening, / all-resurrecting.”
Take some time this week to notice the creation around you. Seek out any surprising signs of life and hopefulness amongst that which seems dormant and barren. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir such surprising vitality in the dormant and barren areas of your interior life, bringing about new vigor, joy and commitment.
– St. Teresa of Avila on encounter
It is perhaps easy for committed Catholics to gloss over the description of Jesus in the first chapter of John as one we “do not recognize.” We know him! We go to Mass every Sunday; we grasp the gist of the Gospels. But Advent challenges us to confront the comfortable presumption that we know the Lord and beckons us to deepen our personal relationship with him.
After all, our decision to cooperate with the divine enablement of the Spirit and to live radiant with the steadfast conviction that we are beloved by God is all about growing in our living union with Jesus. We are invited in the Advent season to expose our minds and hearts anew — or maybe even for the first time — to the ecstasy of self-giving love, the torrent of utterly attentive affection, incarnate and accessible to us in the person of Jesus.
The Christian spiritual tradition teaches that praying with the Gospels is a singularly effective way of coming to know Jesus more intimately. St. Teresa of Avila has precious wisdom to offer us in this regard. For Teresa, the Gospels are a fruitful context for focusing our attention on Jesus and speaking with him in faith.
She gives us a beautiful demonstration of doing just this when she contemplates keeping Jesus company in the Garden of Gethsemane. She had been writing to her sisters about prayer, but she spontaneously bursts into prayer: “O Lord of the world, my true Spouse! … Are You so in need, my Lord and my Love, that You would want to receive such poor company as mine, for I see by your expression that you have been consoled by me?”
Teresa makes the stunning claim here that we can console the Lord in his sufferings. When she teaches us about encountering Jesus in the Gospels, she is not merely suggesting some imaginative exercise or reconstructing in our minds a historical scene. She is talking about encountering a living person.
Teresa is alive to the truth that the Gospel episodes are not over and done with, irretrievably in the past. The Jesus who lived then, lives now and all his earthly life is alive in him; the way he was for the people he encountered in the past is the way he is now for us. So, we can, in fact, be the person touching his cloak, or asking him for mercy, or pleading for living water or consoling him. The episodes of the Gospels truly are pathways to deepening our knowledge of the living Jesus.
– St. Catherine of Siena on Christian identity
Was Mary’s personal identity eradicated at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38)? Did her generous, “I am the handmaid of the Lord” signal the end of her own life story as she began her life as the God-bearer? On the contrary, with her “yes” to the unfolding of God’s plan, Mary leaned more fully into her unique selfhood. Her witness prompts us to step back and discern the same flourishing at work in our own lives — or at least potentially so.
Throughout Advent we have prayed that our lives may more and more bear the radiant glory of God to others. We radiate God’s presence inasmuch as we live from the truth that God loves us; this means coming to know more intimately the God revealed in Jesus, cooperating with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and surrendering unreservedly to that love which sustains us in being through thick and thin. To be alive with the divine life means the blossoming of our deepest identity. We become light to the world and more fully ourselves as we let ourselves be loved.
St. Catherine of Siena had a vivid insight into the reality that our true self flourishes as we grow in union with God. Her prayer “My Nature is Fire” takes our self-understanding to audacious new depths and profoundly enriches our sense of what our life in Christ offers others.
The prayer reads: “In your nature, eternal Godhead, I shall come to know my nature. And what is my nature, boundless love?
“It is fire, because you are nothing but a fire of love. And you have given humankind a share in this nature, for by the fire of love you created us. And so with all other people and every created thing; you made them out of love. O ungrateful people! What nature has your God given you? His very own nature! Are you not ashamed to cut yourself off from such a noble thing through the guilt of deadly sin? O eternal Trinity, my sweet love! You, light, give us light. You, wisdom, give us wisdom. You, supreme strength, strengthen us. Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth in truth, with a free and simple heart. God, come to our assistance! Lord, make haste to help us! Amen.”
Advent both reminds us of our transcendent calling and nurtures its fulfillment within us. Throughout this sacred season, we are created into beacons of divine tenderness as the Holy Spirit shapes our lives into Jesus’ “yes” to the Father’s love.
This Advent, guided by the wisdom of the women doctors of the church, let us throw our hearts open to God’s transforming work of love as never before. Our world needs us to do nothing less.
(Michelle Jones writes from Australia.)
A combination photo show images of Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, and Catherine of Siena. (OSV News files)
From the Archives By Mary Woodward On my drive to the Diocesan Chancery building each morning, I am fortunate not to have to use the interstate. I can drive through two historic Jackson neighborhoods, past museums and the last of some of the original Jackson business buildings to get to my office downtown.
Leaving my house, I pass Eudora Welty’s house, which is now a museum dedicated to her life. The small window on the second floor is where she sat and typed up her wonderful stories. Soon the famous or infamous “Jitney 14” is on my left. This is where Miss Welty shopped among a myriad of characters who would stop at Parkins pharmacy next door to have an egg salad sandwich or a burger and a milkshake. Further down the road I pass the old White House, a former boarding house that served great Saturday lunches and is now an eclectic coffee and small batch bakery known as Urban Foxes. Two blocks later I see Carter Jewelers off to the right and the New Capitol Building, which is called new even though it is more than 100 years old because the original Capitol Building still stands.
Bishop Gerow prays on roof of the diocesan chancery building in Jackson on Dec. 12, 1948. On right, the dedication plaque for the diocesan chancery building located in the Smith Park Architectural District of Jackson.
Straight in front of me is that Old Capitol. On the way up to it on the left, I pass three amazing buildings housing the State of Mississippi’s history – the Mississippi History Museum, the Civil Rights Museum, and the William F. Winter Archives. I appreciate how the history museum and archives building are classic architecture that sandwich the unique contemporary architecture of the Civil Rights museum. The whole complex works and graces that block with its formidable presence.
Between these buildings and the Old Capitol stands the War Memorial building. Turning onto Amite Street, I can see the clock on the Lamar Life building over on Capitol Street. This is one of Jackson’s coolest buildings architecturally along with the Standard Life building further down. Complete with gargoyles on the upper ridge, the Lamar Life building is a tribute to Gothic Revival style. The Standard Life building is a masterpiece in Art Deco design. Once homes to business endeavors, both are now residential and mixed use.
Driving down Amite Street I now enter the Smith Park Architectural District, an area of downtown encompassing all these unique styles of architecture. Smith Park itself is one of the oldest continually used public parks in the country. It dates back to 1838. The area is part of the national register of historic places.
Workers pour concrete for the second floor of the chancery building at 237 East Amite Street in January 1947.
The reason I mention all these is because our diocesan cathedral, cathedral rectory, and chancery office are all located in and are a part of this historic district. The southwest corner of Amite and West Streets is where the cathedral rectory and the chancery sit. Across Amite on the northwest corner is the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
Finished in 1900, this current building is the third St. Peter’s parish church. The first was built in 1846 and located eight blocks to the south and burned in the Civil War. The second was finished in 1868 and sat where the rectory and chancery now sit.
Once the new brick church across the street was completed, the second wood-framed church was used as a gathering center for the KCs and other parish events. In 1913, Rev. Aloysius Heick, SVD, came and loaded the second church on mule carts and took it several blocks north to become the first Holy Ghost church.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
SOUTHAVEN – During Sacred Heart School’s “Living Museum of Saints” on Oct. 31, a student portraying St. Thérèse of Lisieux (B.J.) shares her story with classmates dressed as Mary (Vivian) and St. Clare (Maddie). (Photo by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)JACKSON – St. Richard School invites families to join the First Friday Rosary in the Father Brian Kaskie Chapel on campus. This event serves a special opportunity for parents and families to pray together, spend time with students, and experience the faith-filled spirit that makes our school shine. Pictured: Caroline Compretta and son, Andrew Compretta. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
JACKSON – At St. Richard Catholic School’s Halloween celebration, sixth graders led Pre-K students trick-or-treating through the halls. (Above) Teacher Sheila Foggo high-fives students as they pass her classroom. (Left) JD Poole and Drue Beal visit older students who handed out candy to the youngest trick-or-treaters. (Photos by Celeste Saucier)
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D. During his homily last Sunday on the commemoration of the World Day of Prayer for the Poor, Pope Leo XIV urged world leaders to listen to the cry of the poorest, which challenges those who bear political responsibility. “There can be no peace without justice,” he said, “and the poor remind us of this in many ways – through migration as well as through their cries, which is often stifled by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, and indeed forgets many individuals, leaving them to their fate.”
The pope also encouraged the efforts of charity workers and volunteers and invited all Christians to seek the Kingdom of God by working to transform human coexistence into a “space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”
Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
This is a challenging time across the world where currents of nationalism and isolationism are fracturing global solidarity that is essential for a sustainable commitment on behalf of justice and peace. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, has been resolute in word and action for 2,000 years and notably in the modern era since the time of Pope Leo XIII on behalf of human dignity and international solidarity. It is unmistakable that there has been a seamless garment of Catholic Social Teachings from the heart of the church that has been carefully articulated in papal documents.
In recent history there are the writings and witness of Popes Francis and Benedict, St. John Paul II, St. Paul VI, and St. John XXIII. Each Holy Father in their generation spoke passionately to world leaders to turn away from war and unbridled nationalism in order to foster a more peaceful and interdependent fraternity of nations. During the pandemic, Pope Francis sat alone in St. Peter’s Square before the Blessed Sacrament and commended to Divine Providence the wellbeing of all nations and peoples. From imposed isolation and prayerful solitude in 2020 Pope Francis wrote his third encyclical Fratelli Tutti, (Brothers and Sisters All) on fraternal social friendship and global solidarity that springs from our shared humanity.
Pope Saint John XXIII released Pacem in Terris in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, a profound prayer and a plea for peace and solidarity in our world. A few years later St. Paul VI wrote Populorum Progressio on the Development of Peoples and prophetically taught that Integral Human Development contains the imperative of Moral, Spiritual, and Social Growth, not just material wellbeing. St. John Paul II in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis on the 20th Anniversary of Populorum Progressio in 1987 taught unreservedly that the Social Teaching of the Church is integral to its evangelizing mission. Pope Benedict in his 2005 document Deus Caritas Est wrote that “the church’s deepest nature is thus expressed in her three-fold duty: to proclaim the Word of God, celebrate the sacraments, and exercise the ministry of charity. These duties are inseparable and presuppose one another.”
The Catholic Church in the United States wholeheartedly embraces the teachings of our Holy Fathers as core values and a Gospel vision for our world. On the commemoration of the World Day of Prayer for the Poor, we are proud that as a global church we have vast experience in providing humanitarian aid and development assistance through International Agencies such as Catholic Relief Services in collaboration with NGOs and governments alike.
“The Catholic Church has long recognized that helping those in need, regardless of nationality or faith, is a moral imperative. Humanitarian and development aid are an integral part of the church’s commitment to human life and dignity. As the church pursues a more peaceful world through dialogue and diplomacy, lifesaving and life-affirming assistance act as necessary complements that allow for sustainable solutions to take root.
“A comprehensive pro-life, Catholic vision for U.S. humanitarian and development assistance recognizes that the U.S. government, alongside the church, shares a responsibility to advance the common good. Given that government institutions and the church are jointly called to create a more just world, a Catholic approach to U.S. international assistance invokes both parties as essential partners in the promotion of sustainable change that effectively addresses global needs.” (Catholic Vision for U.S. Humanitarian and Development Assistance USCCB)
Pope Leo XIV has reminded us in Dilexi Te, his first Apostolic Exhortation “that the burning heart of the church’s mission convinces me of the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world. The poor cannot be neglected if we are to remain within the great current of the church’s life that has its source in the Gospel and bears fruit in every time and place. This too is essential for the path to holiness.”
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI John Muir once asked: “Why are Christians so reluctant to let animals into their stingy heaven?”
Indeed, why? Especially since St. Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Romans that all creation (mineral, plant, animal) is groaning to be set free from its bondage to decay to enter eternal life with us. How? How will minerals, plants and animals go to heaven? That’s beyond our present imagination, just as we cannot imagine how we will enter heaven: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard. Nor has it entered the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” Eternal life is beyond our present imagination. What John Muir asks concerning animals might be asked in a wider sense: are we too stingy about who gets to go to heaven?
What I mean by “stingy” here is how we are so often obsessed with purity, boundaries, dogma and religious practice that we exclude millions from our church doors, our church programs, our sacramental programs, our Eucharistic tables, and from our notion of who will be going to heaven. This is true across denominational lines. As Christians, we all tend to create a stingy heaven. However, I can appreciate the instinct behind this. Following Jesus must mean something concrete. Christian discipleship makes real demands and churches need to have real boundaries in terms of dogma, sacraments, membership and practice. There is a legitimacy in creating a dividing line between who is in and who is out. The instinct behind this is healthy. But its practice is often not healthy. We often make heaven stingy. Metaphorically, we are too often like that group in the Gospel who is blocking the paralytic from coming to Jesus, so that he can only get to Jesus by entering through a hole in the roof.
Our instinct may be right, but our practice is often wrong. We, those of us who are invested deeply in our churches, need to be strong enough in our own faith and practice to be anchors of a spirituality and ethos that welcomes in and dines with those who are not invested. How so? Here’s an analogy.
Imagine a family of ten, now all adults. Five of the children are deeply invested in the family. They come home regularly for visits, have meals together every weekend, check in with each other regularly, have regular rituals and celebrations to ensure that they stay connected, and make it their family business to see that their parents are always okay. They might aptly be called “practicing” members of the family. Now, imagine that five of the children have drifted from the family. They no longer cultivate any regular meaningful connection with the family, are dissociated from its everyday life and ethos, aren’t particularly concerned with how their parents are doing, but still want to have some connection to the family to occasionally share an occasion, a celebration, or meal with them. They might aptly be described as “non-practicing” members of the family.
This poses the question: Do the “practicing members” of the family refuse them entry into their gatherings, believing that allowing them to come jeopardizes the family’s beliefs, values and ethos? Or do they allow them to come, but only on condition that they first make a series of practical commitments to regularize contact with the family?
My guess is that in most healthy families the “practicing” members would happily welcome the “non-practicing” members to a family event, gathering or meal – grateful they are there, graciously accepting them without initially asking for any practical promises or commitments. Nor would they feel threatened by them joining the celebration and taking a seat at the table, fearful that the family’s ethos might somehow be compromised.
As “practicing” members of the family they would have a steady confidence that their own commitment sufficiently anchors the family’s ethos, standards and rituals so that those who are present and uncommitted aren’t threatening anything but are making the celebration richer and more inclusive. That confidence would be grounded on knowing (in terms of this particular family) that they are the adults in the room and can welcome others without compromising anything. They would not be stingy with the gift and grace of family.
There’s a lesson here, I submit: We who are “practicing” Christians, responsible for proper church practice, proper doctrine, proper morals and the authentic continuation of preaching and Eucharist, should not be stingy with the gift and grace of Christian family.
Like Jesus, who welcomed everyone without first demanding conversion and commitment, we must be open in our welcome and wide in our embrace. Inclusion, not exclusion, should always be our first approach. Like Jesus we should not be threatened by what seems impure, and we should be prepared to occasionally scandalize others by whom we are seen with at table.
Let’s not be stingy in sharing God’s family, especially since the God we serve is a prodigal God who isn’t threatened by anything!
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a professor of spirituality at Oblate School of Theology and award-winning author.)
By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) – In many ways, the Catholic Church is always a “construction site” where God is constantly shaping its members who must dig deep and work diligently but patiently, Pope Leo XIV said.
The construction site is “a beautiful image that speaks of activity, creativity and dedication, as well as hard work and sometimes complex problems to be solved,” the pope said as he celebrated Mass at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran Nov. 9, the feast of the basilica’s dedication in the fourth century.
The basilica is the pope’s cathedral as bishop of Rome and is referred to as “the mother of all churches.” Standing at the “cathedra” or bishop’s chair, Pope Leo preached about the basilica as “a sign of the living church, built with chosen and precious stones on Christ Jesus, the cornerstone.”
He also spoke about the feast day when he returned to the Vatican for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.
Pope Leo XIV sits in the “cathedra” or bishop’s chair at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran as he celebrates Mass Nov. 9, 2025, the feast of the basilica’s dedication. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
“We are the church of Christ, his body, his members called to spread his Gospel of mercy, consolation and peace throughout the world, through that spiritual worship that must shine forth above all in our witness of life,” he told people gathered to pray with him in St. Peter’s Square.
“So often, the frailties and mistakes of Christians, together with many clichés and prejudices, prevent us from grasping the richness of the mystery of the church,” he said. However, the holiness of the church “is not dependent upon our merits, but on the ‘gift of the Lord, never retracted,’ that continues to choose ‘as the vessel of its presence, with a paradoxical love, the dirty hands of men,’” the pope said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s 1968 book, “Introduction to Christianity.”
In his homily at the basilica, Pope Leo asked the congregation to consider the foundations of the church they were standing in.
“If the builders had not dug deep enough to find a solid base on which to construct the rest, the entire building would have collapsed long ago or would be at risk of doing so at any moment,” he said. “Fortunately, however, those who came before us laid solid foundations for our cathedral, digging deep with great effort before raising the walls that welcome us, and this makes us feel much more at ease.” As members of and laborers in the church, he said, Catholics today also “must first dig deep within ourselves and around ourselves before we can build impressive structures. We must remove any unstable material that would prevent us from reaching the solid rock of Christ.”
The church and its members must constantly return to Christ and his Gospel, the pope said, “otherwise we risk overloading a building with heavy structures whose foundations are too weak to support it.” Building up the church of Christ is a time-consuming labor requiring hard work and patience, he said. Part of that work, the pope said, is being humble enough to allow God to work on each member, the “living stones” who make up the church.
“When Jesus calls us to take part in God’s great project, he transforms us by skillfully shaping us according to his plans for salvation,” Pope Leo said. “This implies an uphill journey, but we must not be discouraged. Instead, we should continue with confidence in our efforts to grow together.”
By Peter Jesserer Smith (OSV News) – From the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall plenary assembly to its end, a resounding concern for the God-given dignity of immigrants, and for unity in teaching the faith clearly and renewing the country spiritually, dominated the days’ proceedings.
The first order of business for the bishops, at the start of the Nov. 10-13 gathering was to invoke the intercession of the Holy Spirit. More than 320 active and retired bishops joined the opening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 10. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, reminded bishops in his opening homily of “their duty to be servants of truth,” and shared the story of a young airman who asked him “how to be a saint.”
The fall meeting was also Archbishop Broglio’s farewell as USCCB president after leading the bishops for the past three years through a National Eucharistic Revival, its first National Eucharistic Congress in more than eight decades, the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, and the election of the first American pope.
Bishops pray during a Nov. 12, 2025, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
In his final presidential address, he emphasized the need for the bishops to model unity and help “convince people to listen to each other” amid polarization.
“We have to draw on our unity to illustrate that civil discourse is not only possible, but the most authentically human way forward,” he said.
For Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador, it was his first opportunity to address the bishops as Pope Leo XIV’s representative to the U.S. since the pope’s election in May. On the theme of unity, he emphasized continuity between the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo’s pontificates, while encourging them to look to the Second Vatican Council as their guide. As he has for the past several years, he encouraged them to develop a synodal culture that could help them unify the church at a time when many Catholics “identify more with tribes and ideologies than with the body of Christ.”
He said, “The synodal path invites us to a different way: a style of being church that makes communion concrete, allows dialogue to become discernment, and catholicity to become shared mission.”
The cardinal’s remarks about synodality, as a means to help the bishops bring about unity, were underscored by a Leadership Roundtable survey from the prior week. It showed that Catholics tend to give their parish pastors and parish high marks, yet a consistent “trust deficit” pattern prevails at the diocesan and national level.
The bishops elected new leadership for the next three years on Nov. 11, the first day of public meetings, choosing the conference’s secretary, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, as their next president out of 10 possible candidates. Archbishop Coakley won on the third ballot in a close run-off with Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. The bishops then decisively chose Bishop Flores, the conference’s former doctrine committee chair and its point man on implementing synodality in the U.S., as vice president, succeeding Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori.
The following day, the bishops elected Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, as their next secretary. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, was selected to succeed Bishop Rhoades as chair of the Committee on Religious Liberty. The bishops then elected five other committee chairs: Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee, for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Oregon, for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, for Evangelization and Catechesis; Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, for International Justice and Peace; and Bishop Mark W. O’Connell, newly named bishop of Albany, New York, for Protection of Children and Young People.
While many of the elections were close contests, the bishops’ voice on major issues – from teaching on immigration and gender ideology to public manifestations of Catholic witness and devotion – was overwhelmingly united in every vote.
On Nov. 12, the second public session of the gathering, the prelates approved a special pastoral message on immigration “to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.” They amended the message on the floor to clearly condemn “indiscriminate mass deportation” alongside their call to end “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.” The bishops applauded and many got to their feet after it passed with a resounding 216 votes in favor, five votes against, and three abstentions.
The bishops’ plenary assembly heard a report on the immigration situation in the U.S. under the Trump administration, as well as a new initiative of solidarity with migrants called “You Are Not Alone.” In a press conference, Bishop Rhoades also revealed that the issue of the ability of Catholic immigrants in ICE detention to receive sacraments “is now at the top of our concerns.”
“Obviously, the beliefs of the church have political consequences, but they’re not political in the usual sense of the word,” Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston told OSV News, explaining the bishops’ special message was “a pastoral address to our people rather than an attempt to lobby.”
The bishops also heard about promising signs of progress in their ongoing efforts to resolve backlogs for religious worker visas with the Trump administration. Close to 90% of the nation’s Catholic dioceses rely on foreign-born clergy and religious.
The bishops also heard a presentation on revisions to their “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” which they approved the following day. They approved the new ERDs – 206 bishops voted yes, with eight abstaining and seven opposing – with substantial revisions from the previous version. They incorporate guidance issued in 2023 by the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, which prohibited surgical or chemical interventions seeking to exchange or simulate the sex characteristics of a patient’s body for those of the opposite sex.
The bishops also learned that a new English version of the Bible will be called The Catholic American Bible, which aims to unify American Catholics’ reading of Scripture from the Bible they use in the home to the readings they pray with in the liturgy. They also learned that the Vatican approved the new English edition of the Liturgy of the Hours – concluding a 13-year process of revision – and it would be available for everyone by Easter 2027.
As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary next year, the bishops voted to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026, during their spring assembly in June, which concludes on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Before the bishops concluded the second and final day of public proceedings – the last day, Nov. 13, was spent in executive session – they approved holding an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2029 following a presentation by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota. Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., which will organize the event, said Nov. 12 that a “Revival Impact Study,” which will be made public in December, has shown that a great deal of fruit resulted from the National Eucharistic Revival effort, which included the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
Bishop Cozzens said one of the gifts of the National Eucharistic Congress is the unity it brings to the whole church – something he saw at the 2024 event.
“I think we’ll experience that again in 2029,” he told OSV News. He said a theme is in development and the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress itself will be “a beautiful experience of the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Peter Jesserer Smith is the national news editor for OSV News. OSV News’ Gretchen R. Crowe, Gina Christian, Kate Scanlon, Lauretta Brown and Julie Asher contributed to this report.)
